That would make a lot of sense. A kind of alternative trio to the Pontiac/Buick/GMC dealers. Combining dealers not only makes sense to the consumer, it helps the manufacturer's bottom line.

Some screwy state laws down here probably make it harder than in Canada. But with GM is combining the dealers in Canada, and GM already working the P/B/G combo, maybe that will be the future look here as well.

GM is very structured here. Chev/Olds dealers are always together and Pontiac/Buick/GMC are as well. Cadillac is added to either, but never alone. SSI dealers are mostly very new looking and serve the import oriented market. You would never see a Chev / Mitsu dealer or something here. Perhaps there are laws down there though, every jurisdiction has some wierd ones.

Any good sights with lots of new 9-3 pictures? I have only seen a few.

Saab is probably a little conflicted here. I am sure they want to build a buzz for the new '03 9-3 launch. At the same time, they have a summer's worth of '02 9-3s. I figure they should err on the side of getting too much data out. But then, I do not make my living selling cars.

Regfootball, you must be forgetting that new Saab 9-3 is a GM product, made on the GM Epsilon platform, using a Saab modified version of the Ecotec engine which is in my Saturn. I thought you have said ad-nauseum that GM does not make a car you are interested in.

See I like GM as long as they put out decent product and stop trying to sell the same crap they sold in the 80's in terms of engines.

The new Malibu/Vectra looks extrememly promising, as it has OHC technology and Euro engineering. That is, assuming Detroit doesn't pervert the basic car with its typical Michigan qualities......I am already upset to hear reports that the horizontal crossbar grille trim is slated for the Malibu, the Vectra beak should be kept in tact as it is. All they need to do with this car is swap the Opel badges with Chevy badges but I am sure they will find some way in Detroit to make it unattractive.....probably will put in a 3.4 pushrod motor or really cheap interior.

For what its worth, I really do like the Alero and L-series, albeit with a small reservation or two. These are really two of GM's base current products.

The new Ecotec motor is quite good and GM NA would do itself well to put this motor in as many cars as it could. I see they are finally starting to do so. But it shouldn't have taken GM till 2002 to put a decent four cylinder in any of its cars when Honda has put solid 4's in its cars basically since the beginning of time.

I'm not against GM per se'. My family grew up on GM vehicles. What I am against about GM is overt signs of cheapness and unwillingness to match other companies in quality of driving hardware and technologies. Plus there has been that certain arrogance in their PR that has always suggested "buy us no matter what we sell" instead of just putting out product that folks want.

Also, I am not a Saab fan. I do think GM's ownership of Saab saved them from the brink of ruin. Saab has to compete with BMW so they had better have the car part down. Or they will fade away.

The 9-3 Sedan and its varients appear as though they may be what Saab has been looking for.

If these cars match their looks, GM can have a nice fwd alternative to people who want to go upscale but do not want the rwd and brassiness of the CTS. Basically you will have GMs version of the Lexi Es300 IS300 brethren.

Any stated date of release? I have a 99 9-5 coming off lease (great car). The new 9-3 looks great in pictures. I heard the same GM platform talk when I got the 9-5 in 99, a platform is just the steel base frame (which is very expensive to manufactur). From there the Sweedes take over. Your not going to find a Saab handling like a Malibu or Opel. Your not going to get the same torque out of your Saturn like a 9-3 Vector. Your not going to get the safety performance either. Fit and finish are completely different. The old 9000 was built off a Alfa platform. Platform sharing has been around for decades. The cars attributes are completely different regardless of the same platform.

You will be seeing more and more of this over time as car companies push to cut costs and compete. Car business is so competitive that you just can't afford not to share as much as possible globally. I'm ok with that and I'm sure the 9-3 will be nothing like an Opel. GM's Ecotec is a good early example of some other world sharing that is coming to North America.

Logic, I had a 93.5 G20 and found it underpowered even with the 5-speed. I test drove a 99 or 00 G20 with automatic and found it handled much better, but that transmission was always in the wrong gear. Finding a newer 5-speed is hard to do.I gave up the 93.5 G20 for an old Saab 9000 turbo because it had more room and power. Would still be driving it if a careless driver hadn't caused me to total it.I don't know what I want yet, so that's why I'm keeping up with the new models, although I drive so little I can't really justify a new car.To keep on topic, I like what I've seen so far of the new 9-3. The current one doesn't appeal to me as much as the 9-5, but they're too much money for me.

The interesting thing about the new 9-3 is how close the interior and cargo dimensions are to the 9-5. There will be a new 9-5 following a little later. It will probably be a lot different than the current model.

A recent change in titles has me traveling far less per year than before. I figured my current L-200 would be the kind of reliable car that I would not feel bad about driving 30k per year. Now I only drive on weekends or evenings when I go out. So it might be fun to go up a class. Maybe the 9-3 is where I want to go.

four doors with AT. I test drove a 99 Passat 4, with an AT and the turbo lag off the start was deplorable. It was alright after that but the start off was unacceptable in Atlanta traffic. What can you guys tell me about the 9-3 base in regard to this?

The Image Gallery portion of the link you posted earlier has a schemata with the new 9-3 dimensions in metric. If you go to the British Saab cite they have a similar metric schemata for the current 9-5. The new 9-3 will not be as big as the current 9-5 but is closer than the old 9-3.

Sure -- with the caveat that I am not an engineer and have some difficulty explaining my experiences with mechanical things.

Current model 9-3s are light, but relatively powerful fwd cars. The rods which transmit the power from a FWD car engine to the front tires are not the same length (in most if not all fwd cars). This creates torque steer, a phenomena where the front pulls to the side of the shorter power outtake rod on acceleration. This tendency is exagerated in the current 9-3 owing to the fact that it is a light but high powered car.

This is not meant to be a complaint, per se, about the car. In fact, many Saab owners actually like the way the phenomena. I learned to drive on a rwd car and prefer oversteer (the back end sliding out in corners) to understeer.

Understeer can be modified to some extent. Supposedly the new design 9-3 will have far less than the current model.

Saab claims that they have virtually eliminated torque steer on the new 9-3 by lowering the steering rack. Sweet if it works. So, the new 9-3 weighs about the same as the model it replaces, yet the new engines seem less powerful than the old ones? So how will performance be? Saab claims that the performance will be as good as before.

The 9-3 will have ESP, EBD, CBC, and TCS. The new Vectra GTS will also have these chassis systems. I wonder if the new Malibu will?

There is a "Linear Launch Packag" that includes "lower body color matching trim". Is the lower trim standard? If it is not body color is it black?

Give me your thoughts and as I said before, I can't wait to drive one.